Fresh Talk: Ranked-choice voting will help attract young voters

By Emmett Shell

|Hartford Courant|

Feb 20, 2019 | 6:00 AM

Locked boxed of ballots are moved by Tom Bull during the first day of the recount in Maine's 2nd Congressional District, Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018, in Augusta, Maine. The recount was requested by outgoing U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin after losing a November ranked-choice race to Rep.-elect Jared Golden. Poliquin eventually conceded. (Robert F. Bukaty/AP)

American democracy demands representative, fair elections. For too long, voters have had to choose the lesser of evils when they cast their ballots in our unrepresentative plurality voting system.

Not only has this system allowed candidates to win general elections without garnering half the vote but it has perpetuated harsh attack politics, suppressed third-party opportunities for success, and, as in the Connecticut gubernatorial Republican primary last summer, allowed primary winners to secure victory with less than 30 percent of the vote.

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Fortunately, there is a solution.

Successfully implemented in Maine’s congressional elections and gubernatorial primaries, ranked-choice voting eliminates all of the problems stemming from plurality voting. The idea is simple: Voters are given a ballot listing every candidate, like normal, but are asked to rank them — from top to bottom — rather than just choosing one. Tabulating the results isn’t as straightforward, but it operates exactly like an instant run-off system. If a candidate is above 50 percent with just first-place votes, he/she is declared the winner. However, if no one clears the bar on the first round, the candidate with the lowest number of first-place votes is eliminated and his or her votes are reallocated to the candidate ranked second on those voters’ ballots.

This process continues until a candidate reaches 50 percent of the vote, which is bound to happen when only two candidates remain, if not before.

Ranked-choice voting allows for voters to genuinely rank their preferences rather than worrying about the “spoiler effect” of choosing a candidate with little real chance of winning. If a voter’s preferred candidate is eliminated, his or her second choice receives his or her support, and no votes are wasted.

Once voters are more comfortable supporting third-party candidates, these parties will have a better chance of expanding our two-party system, an idea supported by roughly 70 percent of Americans. And campaigns will be more hesitant to run attack ads, because that could risk of losing second- or third-place votes. In Maine, for example, two Democratic candidates ran a series of ads asking their supporters to rank them No. 1 and No. 2 respectively, showing voters that politics isn’t just competitive, but it can be cooperative. And it will be, if we choose to move in that direction.

In the recent midterm election, energized voters from both sides of the aisle sent participation skyrocketing. Young people like me were particularly engaged. The national voting rate among 18- to 29-year-olds increased more than 60 percent to the highest percentage for this age group in a midterm in over three decades.

Outside of the voting booths, we worked on campaigns, talked to our friends, and collectively played a huge role in deciding our own future. Our national focus should now turn to retaining this energy. Changing a system that is subject to centuries-old complaints of “my vote doesn’t count” should be one of our priorities.

Once citizens know that with ranked-choice voting they’re always able to vote their conscience and simultaneously impact the result of the election, they’ll be more excited to vote. Surely, increasing voter participation and enthusiasm is an ideal that Democrats and Republicans alike can agree on.

Young people throughout the nation are excited to vote, participate in democracy and do what we can to create a more perfect union. People are excited to discuss ranked-choice voting and learn how it went in Maine. Many are inspired and optimistic that it may spread to Connecticut. The Democratic group at my college used ranked-choice voting for our internal elections because we believe it’s the best system.

There are certainly many difficult, controversial, inexplicable and perhaps unsolvable issues in our elections, yet there are important, concrete steps we can take. I’m excited to be working to bring ranked-choice voting to Connecticut.